It was an afternoon, Courage was sleeping in Muriel's rocking chair, Shaggy and Scooby were eating snacks on the couch, while watching TV, Eustace was also sitting in his chair and watching TV as well.
"This legendary hat was made of solid gold, and was kept by a secret society of monks. No one had ever seen the hat. No one except the legendary explorer who made a map leading to the Forbidden Hat of Gold," the reporter on the television announced.
"Blah, blah, blah," Eustace complained.
"Like, all that trouble for a hat made of gold, and it looks like Uncle Eustace's hat," Shaggy remarked, as he took a bite of his bag of chips.
"Ro kidding," Scooby added, as he ate his Scooby Snacks.
"But the map and the hat has never been found," the reporter continued. "That explorer is this." Then there was a picture showing of the explorer, that look familiar.
Shaggy then noticed something else about the man on the screen, "Like, isn't that Uncle Horst?" he asked.
"THAT'S ME BROTHER! THAT'S HORACE!" Eustace shouted in shock and joy.
Eustace's yelling ended up waking Courage up.
"What's happening?" Courage asked sleepily, yawning and arching his back.
"RI don't know Rourage," Scooby answered with a shrug.
"Like, with Uncle Eustace, it's always a mystery," Shaggy added. Huh..Even if Velma Fred and Daphne we're here, they'll never solved the mystery of why my uncle is this way. Like, even if they tried.
Eustace got up from his chair and went over to the moose head that was hanging on the wall. He then reached into the nose and pulled out a picture similar to the one that was on the television. "Hey Horace, didn't you leave me a map?"
Courage stared at the picture of Horace, "Hmmm," he hummed, while trying to get a look at the picture.
"Get away from me," Eustace growled.
Courage whined already knowing that nothing good is going to come from this. Eustace ran up the stairs possibly to his room.
Shaggy frowned as he watched Eustace. Like, what is my uncle up to this time?
"What's happening here?" Muriel asked, walking into the living room.
"Rustace got excited over something before heading up to his room," Scooby reported.
"How about we go check on him?" Muriel suggested before heading up the stairs as well.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage looked at each other before getting up and heading upstairs as well, as the family neared the master bedroom, they heard Eustace shout out in excitement.
"But I ain't telling Muriel, my nephew, or those stupid dogs," the family heard him declare.
"Tell us what Eustace?" Muriel asked as she opened the door so they could all enter the room.
Looking towards him, the family saw that he had a roll-up parchment in his hand.
"We all going on vacation," Eustace bitterly answered, clearly not happy that his family heard him.
"Oh, how lovely," Muriel gasped.
Courage was taken aback, a vacation does sound like fun, "Yay!" he cheered.
Shaggy frowned and looked suspiciously at Eustace "Like, hold on to the excitement little pink dude, don't you think it's a little bit weird, that my uncle of all people decided to take us to a vacation," he told, the cowardly pink beagle.
"Reah, something's up," Scooby said, with a frown.
Courage denied the the fact that Eustace couldn't be that stupid, maybe it was just an ad he found on his newspaper this morning. He tried to reassure his friends as he thought what the farmer said, "Oh come on guys, the farmer's not that dumb to take us some place dangerous, besides what's the worst that can happened?"
Three days later, as Courage had jinxed it, the family were traversed through a dense jungle, all the while swatting away some bugs.
"Eustace, I'm beginning to think you've gone daft," Muriel said, as she continuously pushed to the side the vines that were in her path.
"Our hotel's just around the corner," Eustace said, as he kept on reading the map.
Shaggy and Scooby give solid stoned and questioning glares to the cowardly pink beagle, who gave the hungry duo a weak nervous grin and chuckled nervously.
"But I've been wrong before," Courage muttered worriedly, while his ears dropped down cringing.
"Like, this more of a going on a quest, than a vacation," Shaggy complained, rolling his eyes.
"Reah, I hate mosquitoes," Scooby carped, his ears twitched at the sound of a mosquito buzzing around his head. He swatted at the mosquito, that tried to land of his neck.
"There it is!" Eustace shouted when the family finally exited the jungle and saw a temple in the distance. "Our hotel."
"Why do I get the feeling they don't have room service?" Muriel asked as she, and her family all got out of the jungle.
"Like, something tells me it's not a hotel," Shaggy told his aunt.
Muriel, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage came up to Eustace, who was reading the sign, that was by the cave.
"Whomever steps inside this place. Must vanity and greed erase. For if you're vain. Well, that's no good," Muriel read the sign.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage whimpered, it was something the family had to take seriously.
"Signed, all of us who wear a hood. P.S. We warned you," Muriel said continuing reading the sign.
"Gobbledygook," Eustace scoffed.
"Sounds like people of love themselves and their money more than anything else aren't welcome here," Muriel surmised.
"Uncle Eustace, I'm not sure this is a good idea," Shaggy wearily told his uncle, looking nervously up at the massive cave. He suddenly have a really bad feeling about all of this.
"Big deal. I'm going to be rich, ME! ME! ME! RICH! RICH! RICH! I love me when I'm rich!" Eustace shouted before running off into the temple.
Scooby rolled his eyes, "Rike usual Rustace never listens."
"The only thing he listens to is his greed," Courage added in agreement.
The family then went into the cave, to catch up with Eustace, he was already helding a torch. Shaggy, Scooby and Courage looked around in the entrance of the cave and the three were already getting uneasy vibes from it, as they walked past the entrance.
"Not that I'm aching to know, but what's in there?" Muriel asked.
"It's where you check in," Eustace replied as the family continued to travel down the tunnels.
"I'm beginning to think this isn't a 5-star resort," Muriel said wearily of all the tunnels and different pathways she was seeing.
"Too bad they don't have a burger stand here," Shaggy lamented, as Scooby rubbed his stomach.
"Seriously, can you two ever stop thinking about food?" Courage asked, then shook his head. After all, this was Shaggy and Scooby he was talking about.
The family kept on going for a few more minutes until Eustace stopped.
"What's huh?" he asked confused, around, the family saw that they finally found the the golden hat from the TV.
"Like hey, it's the hat from the TV," Shaggy said, while pointing with his finger.
"Rit's that why Rustace lead us in here?" Scooby asked, staring at the golden hat.
"BINGO!" Eustace laughed as he ran up to the hat.
"Oh, my," Muriel said with worry.
Scooby, Shaggy, Courage and Muriel shared a confused look, wondering what Eustace would use that hat for. Then the family walked up to the farmer.
"It's beautiful," Eustace said admiring the hat. "I'd sure look good wearing that hat." He already imagining how he would look in the hat. He then tried to reach for the hat but Muriel slapped his hand away. "OW!"
"Can't you read? Do not touch," Muriel scolded, while pointing to the sigh below the hat.
"Nope," Eustace answered.
"Like, Uncle Eustace can we please get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps," Shaggy anxiously asked, he wanted to get out of this cave and never return.
"Reah, don't you ever watch movies, were the hero takes something valuable and there's a trap," Scooby begged, whimpering.
Courage nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think we should leave right now."
"Ha, ha, ha," Eustace mocked, ignoring the cowardly trio, as he took the hat off the pedestal.
But as soon as he did that, the whole place started to shake as if it was about to fall down all around the family. There was a strange sound like thunder rumbling from deep in the ground. Dread rose up in Shaggy, Scooby and Courage, the trembling got stronger. The noise rose up around them, so loud that it hurt Shaggy, Scooby and Courage's ears.
"RI don't think you should of done that Rustace," Scooby whined, his voice cracking with terror
"Now see what you went and done Eustace," Muriel scolded, clearly upset.
The shaking got stronger and stronger.
"LIKE, LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Shaggy screamed.
Not needing to be told twice, the family all ran away from the pedestal as more rocks started to fall around them, heading down one of the tunnels, they hoped it would take them out of the tunnel. Only to lead the family to another room that had about twenty different paths that each had am exit sign above them.
"Like, which way do we go!?" Shaggy exclaimed, seeing that they had no idea which path to take. Oh man, if we ever need Fred, it's like, now!
"Just picked that one!" Courage suggested with shouting, there was no time to stop and think about it.
Deciding to risk it, the family went down a path that was on the left, and while there were no rocks falling down from the ceiling, which is a good thing, it was replaced by a boobytrap. Which was the wall shooting them with pies. Lots of pies. Courage tried to avoid them but that proved very difficult to do so as he got hit at least a dozen times. Shaggy and Scooby on the other hand, we're joying the pies that was shooting at them.
"Like, this boobytrap isn't half bad," Shaggy commented, as he ate the pies.
"Reah," Scooby agreed, as he also ate the pies and burping loudly.
"LESS EATING! MORE RUNNING!" Courage exclaimed, unable to believe that they're eating when all of their lives were in mortal danger.
Another boobytrap came up, this time in the form of boxing gloves coming up from the ground and tried to hit the family, they were much easier to avoid. However, that did not mean they didn't get hit a couple of time.
Courage then noticed a light coming from the end of the tunnel.
"Look guys a way out!" Courage piped up.
"Like, good work little pink dude!" Shaggy said, clapping with excitement.
Signifying that the family finally made it back to the exit, but to their horror, that was just another trap. As behind it was just a thin ledge with a river of LAVA beneath it. Suddenly the ground beneath disappeared and they're in midair. The family all let out terrified screams as they ran off the ledge.
Courage's heart leaped into his throat he thought quickly and managed to save all of his family, by using a dart gun. They all manage to get safe on the ground
"Ranks, Rourage," Scooby panted, as he tried to catch his breath.
But even that didn't last long as another trap was activated, this one being a giant watermelon rolling down the ledge to squish the family.
"ZOINKS! A GIANT WATERMELON!" Shaggy screamed.
Getting up, the family ran as fast as the could to avoid being flatten, after a few seconds, they all entered another tunnel and away from the pool of river. Soon, the family saw light coming from the end of the tunnel again, for a moment, the fearful trio thought that it was another trap like the last one.
But they kept going towards it as they were still being chased by the watermelon. Luckily, this one wasn't a trap and the watermelon was stopped by the tunnel which proved too small for the watermelon to keep chasing them, though, they're running, they're not paying attention to what was in front of them which led the family to running into some people.
"Oh, what naughty people you are, you should not have touched the golden hat. Didn't ready our sign, did you?" the man scolded, while tsking.
Muriel, Shaggy and Scooby give sharp glares to Eustace angrily, while Courage give a worried glance to the farmer.
Shaggy frowned, "Like, nice going angry old uncle."
"Reah, nice going," Scooby added, with a frown.
The monks, took the family to a jail ceil, and chained, them up by a wall, making the cowardly trio feeling helpless.
"This will go a lot better for you if you tell us where you hid the hat," the leader of the monks told the family, as some other monks started searching them.
"You bluffing, ya bunch of hippies," Eustace shouted back.
Muriel was giggling clearly ticklish, as one monk searched on her.
"Like, this is uncomfortable," Shaggy cringed, as a monk, search him, on his clothes and pockets. He felt a chill shoot up his spine, this felt wrong on so many levels.
Courage and Scooby were beside themselves, they're being locked up for something Eustace did, being punished for it, what would happened afterwords? It was all they could do not panic, their breathes came quick and their hearts hammered in their chests.
Then they're given an terrified answer. "Okay, you better give up the hat or one of you is going to be SACRIFICED," the leader warned.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage instantly panic and their hearts tried to race out of their chests.
"Sacrifice?!/Racrifice?!" Shaggy, Scooby and Courage asked in unison, fear gripping them.
Why are we being punished for something we didn't do!? Courage wondered.
"You have one minute to think it over," the leader finished, as he and the monks went out of the ceil.
"They ain't sacrificing no one, lousy stinking hippies," Eustace shouted again.
"They sound pretty serious to me," Muriel said.
"Yeah, I really don't wanna be sacrifice," Courage shivered, frightened.
"Us neither/Rus neither," Scooby and Shaggy whimpered out in unsion.
"Where is that hat anyway?" Muriel asked.
"Hat? What hat?" Eustace asked with feigning ignorance.
Before, either his family could replay, the monks barged back into the room.
"Time's up," the leader said.
Fear rushed over the three friends with crushing force.
"EUSTACE!/UNCLE EUSTACE!/RUSTACE!" Shaggy, Scooby, Courage and Muriel yelled in unison.
"Fakers, hippie fakers," Eustace repeated.
"We warned you," the leader said as some other monks released Muriel and began to drag her out.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage's hearts dropped in despair.
"Eustace, do something!" Muriel begged.
"AUNT MURIEL!/RURIEL!/MURIEL!" Shaggy, Scooby and Courage cried out in horror unsion, as they saw the elderly woman, being dragged away.
"They're bluffing, bluffing hippies," was all Eustace said before the door close.
"NO!/RO!" Shaggy, Scooby and Courage cried in unsion, terror rising in them.
"Like, we need to save her!" Shaggy exclaimed, as he tried to get his hands out of the chains, but it was no use.
"Rhat are we gonna do?!" Scooby cried, worrying about Muriel.
Courage yanked his neck chain as hard as he could, it was no use it won't budge. Then he literally take off his head, which allowed him to escape the chains. Courage headed to the door and begged, "Let us out! There's been an misunderstanding!" he started banging his tiny paws hopelessly on the door before trying to yanked the metal bars in the opening of the door.
"You should have paid attention to the poem," the monk that was guarding the door told him before pushing Courage back into the room.
"What are you trying to do? Get him mad?! Stupid dog, stupid hippies!" Eustace shouted.
Does he mean that poem at the entrance of that cave? Courage remembered what Muriel had read on the sign at the entrance they came across earlier today. The poem. The poem. The poem. Muriel's words echoed in Courage's mind. Whomever steps inside this place. Must vanity and greed erase. Sounds like people of love themselves and their money more than anything else aren't welcome here. Courage give out a howl of alarm, as he felt dizzy with horror.
The cowardly pink beagle streaked up to his friends and somehow managed to free them from the chains, all of them except Eustace.
"Thanks, little dog dude," Shaggy said, blinking gratefully.
"Row, we gotta get out of here," Scooby ordered.
"Leave that to me," Courage instructed, as went went up to the work out equipment, that was somehow there and he started to lifted the giant weight.
He managed to grow muscles, much to the amazement of Shaggy and Scooby, and rip the door right off. Courage came out of the door and zip down his muscle body, as if was a suit.
"Rice, work Rourage," Scooby said, gently patting Courage.
A frightened expression grew on Shaggy's face, "But like, where they took my aunt?"
"I think, down there," Courage trembled, pointing his paw towards the horizon.
The cowardly trio saw that Muriel was tied up on a platform where their supposed god is sitting, Muriel scream in terror as the statute came to life and started to move closer to her. The cowardly trio quickly ran down to the gorge, and hid behind a boulder
"Muriel, we'll save you!" Courage called to his owner.
"But like, how are we gonna save her!?" Shaggy questioned, with his head cocked to the side.
Courage thought for a moment, "Wait, if this is their god, and they stand against greed and vanity. What if we make them become the very thing they stand against?"
"Rood thinking Rourage, but how are we gonna do that?" Scooby inquired.
Suddenly an idea came to Courage, he grabbed a phone began to call someone for help.
Then a truck suddenly appeared with Charlie exiting the truck, he handed Courage a PDA to sign, the cowardly pink beagle instead, handed him his credit card and Charlie swiped it.
'Thanks, Mr. Mouse," Courage said, as he handed Charlie back the PDA.
"No prob," Charlie replied, as he returned to the truck he then opened the back of the truck to allow the trio to get Courage's order.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage screamed when the back of the truck suddenly raised itself, dumping all the packages onto the trio.
'Wait, where's the big-"Courage began to asked but give out a scream when a giant packed slid down and fell on top of the three with force.
"Like, I think we found it," Shaggy weakly strained, as he crawled out from under the package.
Standing up, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage all lifted the package and delivered it to the stone god.
"Like, wait Mr. god dude, we got something for you," Shaggy grinned.
The god picked up the package before opening it. It reached in and pulled out a lavish white fur coat.
All the monks gasped in amazement.
"That's a fine and fancy coat you got there," Muriel said, as her nephew began to untie her while the stone god started to put on the coat.
"Nice coat," the leader complimented.
"That is a coat," another monk said.
"Hmm, could use some alterations," the leader said looking over his robes.
"You think I'd look good in that coat?" a monk asked his leader.
"Oh, it's slimming," the leader answered.
Scooby and Courage started handing out the coats to the monks, while Shaggy was uniting his aunt.
"I'll take one," a monk said, as Scooby handed him a box.
"It's about time they updated their wardrobe," Courage said, with a sly grin.
"Wonderful quality," another monk said.
Scooby grinned back, "Rou said it Rourage."
"Does it come in mauve?" another monk asked.
Scooby and Courage didn't answer, as they both started to run towards their owners.
"Oh boys, so good to see ya," Muriel said, happily.
Courage didn't answer, as he lifted up his family and started running, as the place was starting to fall down.
After Courage ran off the island, the family saw a ship that would take them to safety, luckily, the captain agreed to take the family back to Nowhere town.
"Well, it goes to show you boys, if someone takes the time to etch a poem on a plaque, you better take it seriously. Especially if it rhymes." Muriel told the cowardly trio.
Shaggy nodded, "Like, you said it Aunt Muriel."
"Reah," Scooby barked with a grin.
"Hmm-mmm," Courage said in agreement.
"I just hope Eustace makes it out okay," Muriel said turning to face the island.
In the destruction of the temple, Eustace managed to climb out of the rocks.
"What's huh?" Eustace asked as he looked around, to make sure nobody was there. He give out a mischievous laugh, as he grabbed his hat and pulled out the gold hat, he had the entire time and put it on his head.
"I love me when I'm rich," Eustace laughed, but spoke to soon, as he turned to stone and crumbled into dust. He give out a growl and said, "STUPID HAT!"
Ah Eustace, when will you ever learn? Well that's all for this chapter, next will be Serpent of the Evil River. I like to thank schweenieboy for the quotes and ideas. Let me guys know in the reviews/comments of what should I do for the future episodes or next chapter. And what Courage should say in future chapters. Until then this is vakarns signing out. Oh and Happy Late Valentine's Day
Serpent of the Evil River Summary: The family are suckered into a free cruise, only to be tricked into assisting the captain in capturing an opera-loving sea serpent named Carmen.